ive got a jet 16/32 Dick and i highly recommend it. mine is about several years old. it has the sand smart feature which works great. if the sander starts to bog down it will automatically slow down the belt speed. helps to prevent from over loading the motor. i adjusted the belt tracking when i bought it and have never had to touch it since. now i dont know how the quality is today, i sure hope they didn't cheapen it.
working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.
had a delta before this one. what a POS !!!! had to constantly fiddle with the tracking and the motor burned out. they wanted about 400 bucks for a new one. it was time to part ways.
working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.
Pottz - does your unit have the pull belt system or the push ? Hartville Tool had the 16/32 on sale last week, a couple hundred off I think but I think I found a gently used on that is no longer in service due to other interests. Haven't been able to look at it yet but soon -
Eric the LARGE had a Jet 16/32 that was about 15 years old. I never messed with it, he hated it, and would always come over to use my 19/38 Supermax. That is my sum knowledge of Jet belt sanders.
Larry if you have a Jointer/Planer try putting a 150 to 180 or so belt on. I find much of the getting flat and smooth work is already done with my prep, so the sander really helps in that big push toward final finishing, so I don't have to stand there like an auto-drone sanding, sanding, sanding, and more sanding, Ohhhh Joyyy.
a lot of the time i run material through the sander to get it down to the thickness i need thats too thin or small to go through the planer. and i dont like changing the belts any more than i have too.
working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.
Performax 16/32 here (same a Jet's early model I believe since Jet bought the company) I change belts all the time. Rarely use my lunchbox planer any more, just load up with 36 grit to get flat, then step to 80, then 180 to get to final +.005" . ROS will step back one grit (120) to remove linear scratches, then forward usually to 220 and final dimension. If I'm using the Cubitron on the ROS I'll go +0.010"
Belt changes are about 30 seconds, no finger access issues.
Have never used the smart sand but it sounds like a win-win.
Funny thing is I use that 36 for end grain cutting boards and rough cut lumber. It is the original that came with a 4-pack assortment I bought with the sander. I have gone through several 100 meters of 80 and 180, but still have that original 36.
G-da*nit, now I want a drum sander. Not a damn place to put it.
I’m happy with the thicknesser I’ve got and the FlatMaster for panels, but something with a feed, and able to handle thin, narrow stock would be a plus.
Sigh….
Ryan/// ~sigh~ I blew up another bowl. Moke told me "I made the inside bigger than the outside".
Bruce, I've read some threads where owners considered a change of belts to be a huge challenge. I also swap grits all the time. I think if you do, it becomes a 3 minute max of taking off the belt, and swapping to your next grit. No biggie, and fully allows you to benefit what one can do for you. Like anything speed comes from the doing.
At 30 seconds you could do a You Tube video, and based on speed alone, it would be viral. You would be semi riche... :-)
I generally buy rolls in bulk, and cut out my own strips. A lot of paper places offer them. Price breaks down to a few bux a roll, and what I get is X or J heavyweight backed, and lasts about 3 to 4 times longer than the crap SuperMax sells for MUCH more. If J weight can be gotten for cheap, it is superior in most cases, and usually offers 3 to 5 times the life of X weight, and all of it is a lot longer life than what you get from the name brand material. So if I bought 3 rolls of the J weight I linked to I'd be at 30 bux, and have 3 belts that will outlast the name brand stuff by a LONG margin, fo almost half the cost. Easy Peasy.
Mine are 109"L x 3"W. I can't copy the pic showing angle for mine, but it's in the owners manual. I have a few pieces of hardboard with the angle cut onto them, and use it as a place, and slice template when I need to ready a new strip. If I use that J Weight material I only get one belt per buy, but i get some really nice 3" wide material that is awesome for making sanding strips, and sharpening strips from on the offcut between my needed 110" and the 130 I get.
None of it is Rocket Science, and it just saves you $$$$$ and gets you better product.
I just buy the rolls from Klingspore (3"), the red stuff (Al oxide). It's been a while but the pre-cut rolls were about $5 each and cutting my own puts it down to about 1/2 that.
Some of those sanders really have limited access on the inboard side. Mine is fine with my sausage fingers adn you are correct about the muscle memory 🤠
well it's just a rolling belt that feeds it trough so you could call it either i guess ? get one with the smart sand if you can.
The difference in push/pull is where the belt drive motor is mounted. Standing at the infeed end of the DS, if the motor is right there by the on/off switch - it a push. If the motor is on the far side of the drum (away from you) then it's a pull drive.
I generally buy rolls in bulk, and cut out my own strips. A lot of paper places offer them. Price breaks down to a few bux a roll, and what I get is X or J heavyweight backed, and lasts about 3 to 4 times longer than the crap SuperMax sells for MUCH more. If J weight can be gotten for cheap, it is superior in most cases, and usually offers 3 to 5 times the life of X weight, and all of it is a lot longer life than what you get from the name brand material. So if I bought 3 rolls of the J weight I linked to I'd be at 30 bux, and have 3 belts that will outlast the name brand stuff by a LONG margin, fo almost half the cost. Easy Peasy.
I wasn't aware of the X and J weight classification. I've just been buying roll paper with a cloth backing specification
